Saturday’s meet marked the end of the men’s outdoor track and field season, leaving only the Big Ten and NCAA championships ahead.
At the Fighting Illini Tune-Up, multiple Illini placed highly in their events, and additional athletes walked away with personal bests. The Tune-Up allowed freshman and sophomore members to show off their improvement and what could be in store for next season.
A breakout star from this meet was freshman Eleftherios Kontonikola. He not only won the javelin event but also toppled an Illinois program record that has stood for 31 straight years. In 1993, Brad Lawton threw 68.63 meters, and while some Illini since have come close, only Kontonikola has been able to beat Lawton with an astounding 69.27-meter throw.
Kontonikola not only beat the record but his competition as well. Second place was awarded to unattached Dylan Cooper with a 53.91-meter lob, coming in over 15 meters behind the winner.
Another notable performer was freshman Jackson Gilbert. He ran the 200 and 400 meters, resulting in victories for both races. In the 200 meters (21.32 seconds), Gilbert finished more than 0.3 seconds ahead of the second-place competitor from the University of Illinois Chicago (21.66 seconds) and earned a personal best in the 400 meters (48.83 seconds).
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Despite no Illini winning the 1,500-meter run, the event resulted in two personal bests for the team. Sophomore Brady Masters finished third place at 3 minutes, 46.38 seconds. Masters’ previous best time was recorded less than a month ago at the Gary Wieneke Memorial (3:48.89).
The second Illinois personal best belongs to freshman Kyle Clark, who finished fourth with 3 minutes, 47.40 seconds across the finish, 0.55 seconds faster than his previous best at the Gary Wieneke Memorial (3:47.95).
While senior Tyler Sudduth claimed first in both shot put and discus with a 19.52-meter and 53.03-meter throw respectively, these events also allowed freshmen to enter personal bests into their records.
Freshman Alex Sohn may have only taken fourth in the shot put, but he threw 16.52 meters, following right behind fellow freshman Daniel Lucas. Lucas excelled in discus, however, placing second with a 46.85-meter throw, beating his distance from Gary Wieneke Memorial by 0.82 meters (46.03).
Sophomore Viktor Morozov and junior C.J. Shoaf were the Illini competing against two unattached athletes in the long jump event. Earning second and third place in that order, Morozov set the program’s sixth-best mark at 7.79 meters and earned himself a new personal best.
Now that the regular season is over, the Big Ten outdoor championships are on the horizon for these athletes, which will be hosted in Ann Arbor, Michigan, from May 10 to May 12.
